Hybrid
by DeliriumCanidae
Summary: Someone who knows everything in a time line does not necessarily know everything. Somethings can never be foreseen and avoided. xOC Centric. Probable OOCx
1. Prologue

AN: A few people may remember that I started a story by the same name a long, long, LONG time ago. Since then, I've gotten back into the Danny Phantom fandom...kinda. Anyways, so I'm rewriting this. Have fun with it. (I'm even considering rewriting Return of Darkness and actually finishing it)

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or any characters. I own the plot of this story, and if you get technical then I kind of own the namesake.  
--

Sometimes Clockwork really wondered what had possessed him to release Phantom from the thermos. Phantom made somewhat decent company now and then, and we was...well enough behaved. He wasn't stupid; he knew not to tamper with things, considering he was already technically nonexistent without the medallion. He didn't want to risk losing the medallion.

The only really irritating problem was Phantom's tendency to wander into other closed time lines; time lines that were now impossible and had thus frozen. Time no longer existed in them, and so he knew Clockwork could not see him when he ventured into one.

There was one in particular that Phantom frequented, and that was the mirror that Clockwork phased through to find the other ghost.

The unnaturally still scenery was mildly disturbing, but Clockwork had long become accustomed to it. Bricks were frozen in mid air and dust hung permanently in a gray haze, unless something disturbed it. Ignoring this, Clockwork drifted to Phantom's usual haunt.

* * *

"I thought I'd find you here."

"You mean you didn't know, Master of Time?" Phantom tossed a snide grin in Clockwork's direction from where he sat on a piece of rubble, reclining against the wall.

"What is your fascination with this place? There's nothing here."

Phantom shrugged a shoulder. "Your lair gets dreadfully dull after awhile, and all of the ticking drives me insane. Besides, if you have to come find me, your life is more difficult." He stood, his arms crossed and his stance relaxed. "After all, I have very little to do. I need to find my own amusement somehow." He stalked a few steps closer to Clockwork, whom tensed, raising his staff into a defensive position.

Phantom laughed. "Poor Master of Time. You hate not being able to know what I'll do next. And you can't simply stop time where there is no time." He prowled closer, a wolfish grin on his face, until he was a mere two feet away. "And yet you can very easily make this uncertainty stop, can't you? Just take back the medallion, and I won't even be dust in the wind. But you won't, will you?" By this point, Phantom was circling around Clockwork, noting with amusement that Clockwork was careful to turn with him.

"Of course you won't. Poor Clockwork, stuck alone in his tower day in and day out. It gets lonely, doesn't it?" Phantom scoffed. "Such a shame that the Keeper of Time doesn't even realize how pathetically easy to read he is." He grabbed the staff in Clockwork's hands, very vaguely surprised when the time keeper jerked back, almost unconsciously taking a defensive stance.

"Oh, you wound me, Clockwork." Phantom held a hand to his chest in fake agony. "You still don't trust me?" He laughed again, darting around behind the other and grabbing his shoulders. "I guess you're not as dim as I had thought." One hand lifted from Clockwork's shoulder, suddenly grabbing the staff and wrenching it away from its rightful owner.

"You're even worse without your trinket here. Is this your security blanket?" Phantom twirled it, mocking the time keeper. Clockwork lunged and came close to grabbing it when he felt himself repelled by his own weapon.

"Ah ah." Phantom wagged a finger at him. "I haven't given it back. It's nice to share."

Irritated, Clockwork made another grab, this time reaching for the medallion around Phantom's neck. Nothing would happen where there was no time, but as Phantom skittered out of Clockwork's reach, the threat was clear.

Phantom stopped playing, eyes narrowing. "Getting testy, aren't we?" Silent, Clockwork drifted just out of reach of the staff. Phantom rolled his eyes. "Not even deeming me worthy to speak to? Tres mature, Master of Time."

"You're one to talk, Phantom. Give me back my staff."

"Make me." Phantom twirled the staff, stepping back further out of Clockwork's reach.

Sick of Phantom's game, Clockwork drifted back. Phantom couldn't do anything with the staff, and as soon as he let go of it then it would return to the time keeper. So he'd go for now and get his staff back when Phantom tired of his game.

However, Phantom evidently didn't want his fun to stop so soon. He pounced, slamming into Clockwork and knocking him to the ground. "Leaving so soon?" He leaned close to Clockwork's face, clearly having a grand time with his game.

Though, he didn't expect the time keeper to fight back.

Clockwork's tail formed into his seldom used legs and he kicked, tossing Phantom off. Phantom dropped the staff and it clattered to the ground for a moment before returning to Clockwork's hand.

They both got to their feet and Phantom glowered. "Feisty now? My, this is a surprise." His hands glowed bright green, and Clockwork darted to the side, dodging the blast. The blast instead hit a pile of rubble, revealing the old Fenton Ghost Catcher underneath, supported at an angle by another chunk of the building.

Clockwork smirked, his staff leaning against his shoulder. "You missed." He was answered by Phantom's low growl, and, "Dumb luck."

The clash didn't last long. Phantom pounced again and they grappled before Phantom pushed Clockwork off balance. Clockwork fell through the Ghost Catcher, and Phantom toppled through after him.

The entire room was lit by a white-green light before everything fell dark again.


	2. Chapter I

AN: The bad thing about writing. I get ideas about the middle and the end, but none for the beginning and I never know how to chain the ideas together. But, I'm workin' on it. Besides, this fic is more to just encourage my muse into action for some other things I'm working on.

Disclaimer: I don't own DP. If you get technical, I own Hybrid.

* * *

He groaned, sitting up. He looked around for...who? Was he looking for Clockwork, or Phantom? But...wait...

Red eyes widening, he shot to his feet, looking around for something he could use as a mirror. Spotting a bent, misshapen piece of metal, he darted over, staring at his reflection.

A pair of slightly frantic red eyes stared back at him.

But...how?

He staggered back away from his reflection, his back bumping into a pile of rubble. He jumped forward a step as he heard the pile shift and a piece fall, and he whirled around to see the Ghost Catcher on the floor, the word 'MERGE' facing the ceiling. His eyes widened again in sudden recognition, before the falling piece of rubble crushed the Ghost Catcher.

He dashed back to the piece of metal, staring at his reflection again. It didn't leave him with much choice but to acknowledge what had happened.

He looked the most like Phantom, with sickly white-blue-green skin and flaming white hair, but with a jagged scar over his left eye. His outfit was nearly identical to Phantom's as well, but with a multitude of watches wrapped around his forearms and a bizarre clock set into his abdomen. The tattered black cape had been replaced with an equally tattered purple cloak.

He turned to look at the place the Ghost Catcher had been and spotted Clockwork's staff on the ground. He walked over and picked it up, noting with some confusion that it hadn't returned to him.

"Need to get out of here..."

He tapped the end of the staff against the ground, and...nothing.

"...What?"

'Only Clockwork can open portals to the tower.' The thought hit him like a lead pipe and his eyes widened again. He was...trapped?

Slowly, his gaze slid down to the medallion hanging around his neck.

"Well...here goes nothing." He pulled the medallion over his head and a portal appeared around him. At the same time, he felt an agonizing ripping sensation, like someone was trying to tear him in two.

He appeared in the tower and fell to his knees.

'Put...put it back on. Need to put it back on.' Hastily, he pulled the medallion back on and fell back into a sitting position as the pain abruptly vanished.

After a long moment, he pushed himself to his feet and started pacing.

"...What am I supposed to do?"

He couldn't help the broken Ghost Catcher. Time could not be rewound where it didn't exist.

"I suppose my only option is Daniel's..." He looked down at himself and sighed. "He's not going to like this."

* * *

The portal wasn't open, but then again that rarely made a difference. Ghosts seemed to escape at all hours whether it was open or closed, so he had no problems making his way to the Fenton's basement. He looked around to see if the Ghost Catcher was in plain sight but, obviously, it wasn't, and he heaved a sigh.

'Wonderful.'

Daniel's ghost sense would likely have already gone off by now, which meant that soon he would have a very angry teenager down here mistaking him for someone that he wasn't...in a manner.

"Who's down here?"

And soon would be now.

Daniel, or rather Danny Phantom flew into view, pausing when he saw who stood in front of the portal. After a moment, he growled in a voice far too cold for a kid his age, "You. I don't know how you got away from Clockwork, but you're going back." Danny blasted.

"Daniel, wait!" The merged ghost dodged, using the staff to deflect the attack.

"Why should I?" Danny didn't wait for an answer, launching himself at the ghost, whom dodged again, phasing through the basement's ceiling, and then out of the house.

Once he was a decent distance away from the Fenton's house, he landed, returning to his pacing while staying invisible (after all, flaming hair was kind of conspicuous).

'That went well. He won't even let me get a word in.' Not that he could really blame Daniel, but it didn't make it any less aggravating.

Distantly, thunder rumbled and people slowly filtered off of the streets and into the houses, and the sun began to sink beneath the horizon.

Five minutes later it began raining, and he allowed himself to become visible. Two minutes after that and the rain turned his hair from flames to simple white hair, plastered against his face.

'...Lovely.'

He yanked the hood of his cloak up, pinching the bridge of his nose. Now what? He couldn't go back through the portal; Daniel was likely waiting for him. He couldn't teleport and he really wasn't looking forward to taking the medallion off again.

Unknown to him, the front door of a nearby house open and a pair of wide brown eyes watched him.

"Hey! Are you okay, mister?"

He turned to face the voice and saw a girl, no older than eight years, standing on the front stoop of a house, the eves barely keeping her dry.

"Ah, yes, I'm fine."

"You wanna come in? It's all wet out here!"

"...No thanks."

Well, this was awkward.

The little girl ran down the front steps, instinctively looked both ways, and then darted across the street to stand in front of him.

He took a step away from her and finally pulled off the medallion, doing his best to ignore the shredding pain as it ripped through him.

* * *

It took less than a second for him to pull the medallion back on and lean back against the wall.

"Woooooow. Where are we?"

Oh Hell.

"You followed me?" He looked down at the little girl in front of him, whom glared up at him with her hands on her hips.

"Not on purpose! I got pulled into that weird blue swirly thing!"

The medallion's portal. Of course.

He heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Melody!" She beamed up at him, one finger twirling a strand of long blond hair that was already curly. "What's your name?"

His mind stuttered to an abrupt stop at that simple question. His name? What was his name? Clockwork? Phantom?

Neither of those would work. Not now. Now part of him rejected both of them.

Finally, after a very long moment, he answered.

"Call me Hybrid."


	3. Chapter II

AN: I'm on a roll! Whoo!

Anyways, you people reading this. I need a bit of help. How long do you think Phantom and Clockwork should be stuck like this? A month? A year? Indefinitely? Let me know; it may influence the story a bit.

* * *

"Do you live here?"

"Yes."

"Woooow. That's so neat." Melody stared around the tower in wide-eyed awe, seeming particularly drawn to the mirrors.

"Don't touch those."

Melody stopped in mid-reach before pulling her hand away from the mirror she had been reaching for. "What are they?"

"Important. Don't touch them."

Melody huffed and crossed her arms, giving Hybrid a childish glare. "I just asked what they are. Didn't do anything bad."

"Nor did I. I merely denied telling you what they are."

"...What?"

"I said, 'Mind your own business.'"

Melody scowled up at him before she stuck her tongue out and turned her back to him, arms still crossed. It was almost funny, in a bizarre sort of way.

Nowhere near in the mood to take the girl all the way back to the portal, through the Fenton house, and back to whichever house she had come out of at the moment, Hybrid settled on simply letting her look around the room for now. He doubted she'd be able to find her way out of this room, and he'd keep an eye on her anyway.

* * *

After fifteen minutes, Hybrid was learning very quickly just how talkative small children could be. Melody had prattled on about anything and everything on her mind while exploring every inch of the room that she could get to (but carefully avoiding the mirrors).

"Didn't anyone ever tell you you're not supposed to talk to strangers, Melody?" Hybrid finally asked, idly pulling his hood down (he figured his hair would burst into flames again once it was completely dry, and that would not be good with his hood up).

"Well, duh! But I know your name and you know mine, so you're not a stranger!"

"I don't think it works that way, kid."

Melody shrugged and went right on talking about anything from school to her family to her favorite animal, not really caring that Hybrid contributed nothing to the conversation.

Ten more minutes slid past and Hybrid finally spoke again. "I should probably return you to your house now."

"But I don't want to go home! There's no one there."

"Your parents left you home alone?"

"Daddy goes out every night. He says he wants to find me another mommy. He never tells me where he's going, though, and he says I'll be okay by myself."

Well that was...disgusting. From the sounds of it, Melody's father left her alone so he could have sex for the night.

"But you can't say here."

"Please?" Melody pleaded, turning every child's ultimate weapon onto Hybrid, staring at him with wide eyes.

On the one hand, she probably shouldn't stay here. On the other hand, an eight year old really shouldn't be home alone.

Time to compromise.

"We'll go back to your house. If your dad is there, you stay there. If he isn't, we'll come back."

Melody sulked for a moment, but relented. "Fine."

* * *

Getting to Melody's house had been more than slightly annoying. Danny had still been in the basement, which meant Hybrid had to go intangible as soon as he could, which still gave Danny time to notice him and fire a blast off at him. Not to mention holding Melody. Flying with a passenger was a lot more awkward than it looked.

At this point, he was in Melody's house; he assumed he was in the living room. He put Melody down on the couch and looked around. "Stay here." Staying invisible, he phased into the next room.

It was a short task to check the house, and there was, indeed, no one home. Which meant that no one even knew that Melody had been gone for a half hour.

Hybrid strode back into the living in full view, and Melody gave him a knowing look. "Told ya' no one was home."

"Fine, you win." He reached up to grab the medallion as Melody hopped off the couch and trotted over to him.

* * *

"What do you do here all day?" Melody looked around the tower, her hands on her hips.

"If you're bored, I'd be happy to take you home."

"Nuh uh." She shook her head and continued her exploration of the room.

When Hybrid next looked away from the mirrors, Melody was nowhere in sight.

"Dammit."

Well, he would have heard her if the tower door opened, so he at least knew she was still in the tower. But it was a really big tower.

* * *

This was a really big tower. Melody probably should have thought of that before wandering off into it. Especially since now she had no idea where she was.

That just meant she had to keep walking. Now and then she'd peer into different rooms to see what was in them, but most of them didn't have much of anything in them except a few clocks in one room.

She thought this hallway looked familiar and maybe she had gone in a circle, but most of the hallways in this place looked pretty much the same.

"What are you doing?"

Melody squealed and turned around, seeing Hybrid standing in the middle of the hall. "Um...uh...I'm..." Melody took off down the hallway.

She squealed again and jumped back, watching with wide eyes as Hybrid came up out of the floor in front of her and grabbed her.

"You aren't supposed to wonder around the tower."

"You didn't tell me that!"

"I assumed you knew."

"I can't know what you don't tell me!" She thrashed in his grip as he carried her back to the main room.

"Stay in here."

* * *

It was late. Melody had fallen asleep already.

Watching the mirrors, Hybrid noted sourly that they had already started to freeze. Nothing was wrong with the time lines at this point. But with Hybrid lacking the ability to see through time lines, the mirrors were losing their power.

He had to do something. No matter what people thought, the time lines were unstable. It was only a matter of time before one altered or criss-crossed with another, and he'd be helpless to fix it.

* * *

When Melody awoke, it was as dark as it had been when she fell asleep. She looked around and spotted her new...friend, still watching the mirrors, albeit looking more dejected than when she fell asleep.

Yawning and rubbing a hand across her eyes, Melody asked, "What time is it?"

"Early. Would you like me to take you home now, or sleep more first?"

"Home? Why?"

Hybrid turned to face her, though focusing more on his staff as he wound the clock set into it. "I need to go somewhere."

"Where?"

"To find a friend."

"Who?"

"A girl named Desiree."

"But...can't I come?" She didn't want to go home.

Hybrid sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do you have to be so difficult?"

"Please?" She stared at him pleadingly, standing up to walk closer.

Hybrid turned to look at the mirrors again, and Melody noticed that they weren't moving anymore. After a moment he turned to face her again and gave a short nod.

"You cause any trouble and I'm bringing you home. Understand?"

Melody nodded rapidly, following him to the large doors of the tower. Hybrid held out a hand and she grabbed it, and the double doors swung open in front of them.


	4. Chapter III

AN: I really am on a roll with this thing. Sweet! Anyways. Yes, I am having way too much fun with this, and yeah, Melody does make Hybrid vaguely uncomfortable. After all, a fusion of two ghosts that are used to getting their way being tugged around by an eight year old. Though I think that's mostly Phantom's impatience, taking the shortest route with her (I refuse to call him Dan Phantom. It sounds stupid. Danny Phantom is one thing for a teenager, but he's friggin' twenty-four. And the name 'Dan' will just always sound stupid in my mind).

As a random note, this chapter (and the next one) have been done for aaaagggeeees. I just kept forgetting to submit them.

* * *

Hybrid stepped out of the tower, leading Melody by the hand, and looked for the nearest door.

Melody looked down at the vast blackness beneath them, and she snapped her eyes shut, clinging tightly to Hybrid's arm with both hands. When she slowly realized she wasn't falling, she opened one eye, peeking down again and then opened her other eye to look up at Hybrid, whom was regarding her with a vaguely amused look.

"I can fly. You'll be just fine."

"Okay..." She took one more uncertain look down before focusing on the door they were heading for. It looked like a normal door; dark green with a brass knob and it looked like wood.

Hybrid turned the knob and opened the door.

Melody stared in awe at the dramatic new scenery around them. Everything was burning. The sky was a dark, poisonous green with black clouds covering it, and a silver sliver of moon was just barely visible. She couldn't see a living creature in sight or even any living vegetation. It looked dried out and blackened, with brown grass crunching under their feet.

"Stay close."

Hybrid certainly didn't have to tell her twice.

"Where are we?"

"Another dimension. The doors in the Ghost Zone lead to many different places."

"Do people live here?"

"They may have, and if there are any left then I may very well find Desiree here. She's drawn to areas where people are in the most need."

"Why?" She certainly asked that question a lot.

"She grants wishes."

"Like the genie in Aladdin?" Melody asked, excited.

"Not quite so cheerfully, but yes."

* * *

"We've been walking for ages. I don't think she's here." Melody dodged around a bonfire sized flame, holding onto Hybrid's cloak so she wouldn't get lost.

"I'd have to agree." It didn't look like anything was here. Hybrid gave a final look around and when he spotted a corpse laying through a fire a few feet away, very little more than just a skeleton, he abruptly said, "Turn around. We're going back," while pulling one edge of his cloak so Melody wouldn't see it.

They walked back a few yards until it was out of sight, and Hybrid grabbed her again. Melody felt a very strange, distinct sensation, like having spun in circles a few too many times. When the feeling cleared, they were outside the door again.

"...Why didn't you do that on the way in?"

"I can only teleport somewhere if I know where I'm going."

"Are we gonna have to go to more places like that?"

"It's possible. The offer to take you home still stands."

Melody shook her head, shifting out of his grip to hold his hand again.

* * *

The second and third doors hadn't yielded much better results, with one being a barren mountain range and one being a frozen tundra. Hybrid was reaching for a fourth door when Melody tugged at his hand, yawning. "I'm tired." Before Hybrid could reply, she added, "And if you offer to take me home again, I'll kick you."

"Impudent snot." He rolled his eyes, picking her up to make the trip to the nearest island faster.

It was a fairly normal chunk of rock; bare and lumpy with a pointed bottom, like most islands in the Ghost Zone (not counting Skulker's forests). Hybrid set Melody down before sitting down and holding vigil near the edge of the island.

Melody shifted around on the ground, occasionally making irritated noises due to her lack of ability to get comfortable at the moment. After five very long minutes, she stood up and wondered over to Hybrid, dropping herself down into his lap and pulling one edge of his cloak over herself as a blanket.

Hybrid stared at her oddly for a moment before sighing and bringing a hand up to rub his temple. "You really are a difficult child."

* * *

When Melody woke up, she was much less comfortable than she had been when she fell asleep. She sat up, realizing she was on the ground again. She looked around for Hybrid, seeing him standing at the opposite edge of the island, watching something on the next nearest island. She stood and walked over, tugging on the bottom of his cloak to get his attention.

"What are you staring at?"

Wordlessly, Hybrid pointed to a trio of three wolf like creatures having a massive fight on the next island...except all three of the creatures had two heads.

Eyes widening, Melody took a step behind Hybrid, peering around him at the wolves. "What are they?"

"Experiments, I would assume. Someone in a different dimension tried to recreate Cerberus and it didn't work."

"Cerberus?"

"A three headed dog. He has to do with a fairy tale. Now, I suggest we get out of here."

* * *

The next door was the complete opposite of the last door; instead of a tundra, it was a desert. They both looked around uneasily before Hybrid trekked onwards. Melody ran after him, clumsy in the sand, and grabbed his cloak again.

Walking through the sand was not an easy task and after less than two minutes, Melody was already sweating. She started slowing until she tripped, losing her grip on Hybrid's cloak. He didn't seem to notice, as he kept walking.

She tried to catch up to him, but when it came to climbing the dune, she'd make it up two steps before sliding down three.

* * *

Walking in the desert was ridiculous. Hybrid finally decided to fly and turned to pick up Melody...to find out she wasn't there.

"Melody?" He looked around quickly, lifting off of the ground to get a better look. Not seeing her, he started going back the direction he had come, keeping an eye open.

He came to the top of a dune and looked down, his eyes widening when he saw Melody curled up at the bottom, covering her head. He looked up to see a small group of creatures—resembling a combination of a wasp and a vulture—circling overhead. As one of them dove for the little girl, Hybrid didn't even think as he slammed his hand down on the top of his staff. "Time out!"

Everything stopped.

"...I can still do that?" After a short, stunned moment, he attempted to wind his staff backwards, to before the wasp-vultures arrived. The second hand on the clock went back a few lines before snapping back into the place it had been in.

"Dammit."

There was a short internal debate about whether he should just move Melody, or get rid of the creatures the old fashion way, and he decided on getting rid of the creatures. After all, a kid could only get traumatized and confused so many times in one day.

He positioned himself between Melody and the diving creature, and hit the top of his staff. "Time in."

The creature dove for him and he heard Melody gasp behind him, startled by his sudden appearance. A blast shot out of his hand, knocking the creature back. It turned and flew back to its...flock, and a moment later than entire group was diving for Hybrid.

Instinct took over. Hybrid braced himself as well as he could in the sand and looked over his shoulder. "Cover your ears." Once Melody obeyed, he faced the creatures and inhaled and let loose one of his most powerful attacks, hoping he could still do it.

Melody squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears, burying her face in her knees. The noise was nightmare inducing, like a thousand creatures dying and letting loose their last screams of agony.

She opened one eye long enough to see the creatures get blown back and to watch five of them fly away while three of them fell to the sand, their wings bent at odd angles.

When the dreadful noise stopped, Hybrid straightened and strode over to the fallen creatures that were twitching in the sand; wasp like creatures with vulture heads. He prodded one with his staff to make sure it couldn't follow him, and then he went to collect Melody.

Melody clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder. "Can we go now?" she asked softly. A moment later, she felt the sensation of spinning, and when she looked up they were outside the door again.

* * *

Two days passed, and Hybrid was getting antsy. Now that he couldn't fix anything, he felt as if the sky was suddenly going to fall and the oceans were going to rise to meet it.

He sat on one of Skulker's islands, beneath a tree with Melody once again sitting on his lap, sleeping against his shoulder. He could hear various creatures in the forest—most likely creatures Skulker used as game—and occasionally one would come close, but for the most part it was quiet.

Sometimes he really wished ghosts could sleep. It would certainly pass time more quickly.

Melody stirred in his lap, slowly sitting up and blinking groggily at him. After a minute, she asked, "Where are we goin' today?"


	5. Chapter IV

AN: Ahaha...ha...heh. Hi there. You people probably don't remember who the hell I am! Sorry...This chapter's actually been done for quite a long time, but then my jump drive decided to be a complete douche bag and not let me open anything. In fact, it declared it didn't exist. The result? It took friggin forever for my dad to finally back up the shit on my jump drive so I could get to it again. Anyway, at long last, I can submit this. Don't count on chapter 5 coming anytime soon, though. Sorry.

And for the record, yeah, the desert world in the last chapter was based on Avatar: The Last Airbender.

---

Two weeks had passed, and Melody had become Hybrid's second shadow, following him like a loyal dog. He didn't seem to mind, for the most part. He seemed to have actually gotten used to it.

For the moment they were on one of the islands—a rarer island that actually had a door on it, rather than floating fifteen feet away. Melody chatted a bit more than usual today, trying to get more than one word out of Hybrid.

Hybrid was getting more than a little tired of her endless prattle.

"Melody, please, be quiet. I don't know what door I'm picking next, I don't know what's behind it, and I don't know how much longer it will take to find Desiree. So stop asking questions."

Melody was silent for a few minutes as they sat (not planning on picking the next door until tomorrow). But only for a few minutes. Soon enough, she began talking again, completely oblivious to Hybrid steadily getting tenser and tenser until he snapped.

"Melody, shut up, or I will take you home and leave you there, whether your father is there or not." His tone was sharp and he gave her a withering glare.

Melody scowled at him and stood up, crossing her arms. "Then I'll go."

"Where to? If you hadn't noticed, we're on a floating island and you can't fly."

Melody looked around, her eyes landing on the door standing a few yards away. It looked different from the others. Most of the ones they had tried were normal looking doors, and had led to a variety of uninhabited, horrible places. This door was metal with steel braces across it, as if someone really wanted it to stay closed. With the reasoning only an eight year old could have, Melody decided that if the normal doors were bad, this door must lead to somewhere nice.

"I'll go there." She pointed to the door and ran for it.

"Melody, get back here! You don't know where it goes." Hybrid stood to follow as the door slammed shut again. Damn, that kid could run.

He pulled the door open and stepped through...and almost instantly fell over as the sand seemed to try to drag him down.

It was pouring, turning the sand into a thick, sticky quagmire, just one step below quicksand. Not only that, but it was pitch black. If he hadn't fallen into it, Hybrid probably wouldn't have known he was standing in sand. There was no moon, no stars, nothing. Just darkness.

He pushed himself to his feet, raising one hand as a bright green glow surrounded it. "Melody?" He lowered his hand closer to the ground, hoping to see footprints, but the sand had already collapsed in on itself. "Dammit."

He made the slow trek forward, sinking with each step, and eventually pulling his hood up when his hair inevitably turned into just that; normal hair (not that it would help; the hood was just as wet).

"Melody?" He could feel panic rising for the first time in ten years and he held his hand out further in front of him, trying to make more visible. But he couldn't see anything, other than sand that was still trying to drag him down.

"You're not going to find her." The velvet voice slithered out of the darkness. "Not on your own, at least." A figure—a serpent or a woman or some combination of the two—crept into view, just on the edge of the green light. She raised one hand, holding a struggling Melody by the back of her shirt.

Hybrid tensed like a provoked cat, getting a better grip on his staff. "Let her go," he growled, taking an offensive stance.

"I really don't see why I should. You see, I don't like outsiders on my land, and she is an outsider." She seemed to ponder for a second before dropping Melody. "I suppose you'll due, in her stead." She grinned, baring a pair of vicious fangs.

Hybrid laughed. "You think you can defeat me?" He braced himself and inhaled. As he was about to release the Ghostly Wail, the serpent woman darted forward, a long clawed hand clamping tightly around Hybrid's throat, so all that escaped was a startled, choked off, 'gack!'

"Yes, yes I believe I can. I am Naga, and here I am God. I will not be brought down so easily." She raised her other hand while Hybrid thrashed in her grip, and the entire landscape grew brighter as the world seemed to shift from night to day in a few seconds.

Naga released Hybrid and he staggered back, one hand coming up to clutch at his throat. He could feel pinpricks of ectoplasmic blood running down his neck.

The sun—a small, dull star that cast everything in pale green light—finally rose to its peek and Hybrid got a good look at Naga and the surroundings. Shortly away, the sand abruptly changed to grass, with immense stone buildings with domed roofs set farther back.

Naga herself was a sight to behold. Balanced on her tail, she could tower over anyone. Her skin was tan, before turning to a black scaled serpent's tail at her hips. She wore a metallic chest piece, made of individual gold and silver squares. Long black hair partially obscured her face, and narrow poisonous green eyes watched Hybrid boredly.

"Melody, head back the way you came. I'll be there shortly." Hybrid watched the little girl long enough to be sure she listened before turning his attention back to the serpent.

Naga laughed, the sound like chiming glass. "So sure of yourself. Well, let's find out." She drew a pair of narrow blades with hooked ends from a sheath across her back. "Dance with me."

Hybrid hardly moved for the top of his staff when Naga clicked her tongue at him. "Did you think it would be so easy? I already told you; I am God here. Time does not stop unless I will it to."

Still, Hybrid's hand slammed down on the top of the staff and...nothing.

"Fine. We'll have it your way."

Naga lunged, her blades crashing against Hybrid's staff. She grinned wickedly, sliding her blades apart from each other and hooking the ends around the staff. Hybrid held tightly to it, but Naga still ripped it away, throwing it behind her.

Hybrid growled, taking off. Just as he thought he found an advantage, Naga flashed another grin, and a pair of demonic black wings burst from her back and she followed him into the air, intercepting his path, and then throwing him to the ground with her tail.

Even with the sand, Hybrid hit the ground hard. He pushed himself to his feet and dashed for his staff. Abruptly, he was pulled to a halt. He turned to see one of Naga's blades sticking out of his cloak, pinning it to the ground. He looked up to see Naga diving for him.

He unlatched the gear that held his cloak in place and lunged, snagging his staff off of the ground. He spun, his staff slamming into Naga's side and tossing her away. She shrieked in rage and pounced again, deflected by a ghost ray.

Before the ray had even struck her, Hybrid used one hand to grab it, transforming the energy into the not oft used stinger. Naga shrieked again as the energy coursed through her and she fell to the ground.

Grinning slyly, Naga sat up and cracked her knuckles, retrieving her blade from where it still protruded from the sand. "Not bad." She flared her wings and launched herself at him. She slammed into him, tossing them both to the ground. Leaning close to his face, she dug her claws into his shoulders as deep as she could get them to go.

Hybrid thrashed beneath her, head back in silent agony while he tried to toss her off. He raised his staff as best he could, slamming the end of it into Naga's stomach. She grunted and slackened for a moment, giving Hybrid just enough time to kick her off and get to his feet.

Ectoplasm was dripping down his back and arms, and for an instant he saw double and staggered back, leaning on his staff. Naga laughed and leaned close again.

"Did I forget to mention my venom? You've already had two doses. How many will it take?"

Hybrid grit his teeth, inhaling. He braced himself with his staff and the Ghostly Wail burst forth. Naga took the attack full in the face and was thrown backwards, landing on her back in the sand.

The dreadful noise died down, and Naga picked herself up. Hybrid leaned on his staff and stared at her, somewhat disturbed to notice that the skin on half of her face had cracked off, revealing black scales beneath.

"I'll admit, that was pretty good." Naga stretched and the rest of her skin cracked off crumbling to the ground. Without her shell, she was in her true form; a massive, winged black cobra with talons nearly as big as Hybrid's hand and luminous green eyes.

Her crest fanned out and she stretched her wings, launching at Hybrid, her jaw opening wide. She crashed into him, her jaws clamping shut with one fang driven into his neck and the second driven into the front of his shoulder.

The venom burned as it coursed into him and Hybrid's eyes rolled back into his head, and he went limp.

Naga released him and slithered back, watching him coldly. When she was positive he was focused on her again, she snatched his cloak from the ground and tossed it to him. "Now leave." Noting the dazedly confused look she was being given, Naga's tongue flicked out and she laughed. "I don't like outsiders, but I am no murderer. I'm simply making sure you don't come back. Go before the venom really takes effect."

---

Melody jumped to her feet when she heard the door open behind her. She turned to see Hybrid stagger out of the door, leaning on his staff with his cloak thrown haphazardly over his shoulders. A bright green substance was crusted on his sleeves and neck.

"Hybrid?" Melody questioned hesitantly. The look he gave her was almost frightening; he didn't look like he even knew who she was. He took a step towards her, and then his staff fell from his hand and clattered to the ground. His knees buckled and he followed the staff down.

---

AN: The best fight scene I've ever written. Sad, no?

Ordinarily, yes, Naga's venom would be fatal for a human. But Hybrid's a ghost, so he can't really be killed. So he just gets all of the nasty side effects. Poor boy.


End file.
